Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Vohra Community PDF
Vohra Community PDF
Balkrishna V. Doshi
Vastu Shilpa Fundation
Associates
Muktiraj Chauan
Pragnesh Parikh
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This religious complex is located between the old and the new Vohrwards at Siddhpur. Among
the twenty settlements visitedfor this study, it is only at Siddhpur that all the community buildings occur as a group.
The complex comprises a mosque, a lecture hall for religious discourses,a hallfor community
gatherings on social occasions, a travellers lodge and the local priests house with an administrative officefor community institutions. The buildings have came up at intervals and therefore, the complex does not show attempt at any kind of organization. The following is a brief
note on the buildings in the complex.
The mosque is approachedthrough a gate in the eastern wall of the complex. The gate issituated along the central axis of the mosque which remains constantly in view as one approaches
it. The approach terminates into a flight of steps leading to the high plinth of the court.
Beyond this court is the spacious prayer hall. The ground floor of the prayer hall is used by
men anda mezzanine level is used by women. Earlier the mosque had two minaret on either sides. A third minarete of similar design has been recently added in the centre.
Jamatkhana - Community hall the Community hall is located along the southern wall of the
mosque. It is generally usedfor community dinners. A large court in the middle houses a drinking water place. The kitchen is situated along the eastern wall. This hall isfrequently used on
social, religious as well as cultural occasions. the practice of community dinners indicates the
strong ties of unity in Vohra community. (Fig. 68).
Vohrwad entrance gate. (Fig. 69).
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Kapadvanj is located 60 kms east of Ahmedabad. As is the case with Siddhpur, from
Kapadvanj too, most Vohras have migrated
to larger urban settlements. At Kapadvanj,
the Vohra dwellings are grouped in two distinctly different clustering patterns. Of these two clusters, the earlier one, Nani (small)
Vohrwad's growth was adhoc and it has a
more organic character with meandering
gtreets.
Voti (large) Vohrwad which came up later
Teems properly planned with sub-streets
branching out at perpendicular to the main
street. A clock tower above the entrance port
to the mosque dominates the street in the
4oti Vohrwad. A drinkmg water place is situated near the porch where the street widens.
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Approach to both these. Vohrwads is
through a massive double gate with two arched entrance.
A large occurs before the gate. Above this
gate is the local priest's house and as can be
seen in the plan, community buildings are located right next to it, accessible from both
the streets. The commanding position of the
priest in community thus finds a physical
espression in this case. An internal link under the gate facilitates movement between
the two Vohrwads when the gates linking
with the town are closed. (Fig. 70)
A street in old vohrwad, Khambhat. (Fig.
71).
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andarni parsal, being covered, extends the use in monsoon when the
court is unusable.
Andarni parsal often has a swing
which is a popular device in hot climates to keep cool. This space is
used predominanty as a family
lounging space during the hot afternoons. Beyond the andarni parsal,
the house ends in a room, which is
the family's living room. Known as
'ordo', this room is richly decorated
with seating arrangements in traditional style on the floor. The cupboard on the extreme rear wall of
this 'room' is always designed in
Islamic traditions representing the
concept of nine squares known as
'navkhand'. Such a cupboard with
intricate carvings is an inseparable
component of a Dawoodi's house.
This space is generally used to entertain close relatives, and family
friends and for sleeping.
Generally a service lane separates
the next parallel row of houses.
This barely ensures ventilation. The
level of natural illumination is extremely low in this room on the
ground floor. In case of a house
with a back yard, the light in the
room is satisfactory.
The first floor is reached by a stair
from the anteroom at ground floor.
From the first floor upwards, the
stair is often provided near the
court, allowing for an independent
use of the rooms on its either sides.
A large room at the back on this level is generally used as a formal living area and guests are entertained
here. The windows generally have
double shutters, one of wood and
the other of stained glass. The room
in the front is generally used as a
multi-purpose space and sometimes
has a covered balcony.
It is in facades that the Vohra houses built early this century largely
differ from the Hindu houses as
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hoods the introvert, security conscious make up of the Vohra community and its Hindu origin are explicitly manifested. Unlike the British colonial neighbourhoods, one
house per a large plot on the outskirts of existing mediaeval towns in
India, the Vohras always built houses in close-knit clusters in a row
house system. These were often,
physically integrated with the existing random patterns of the old
Vohra neighbourhoods to obtain a
socio-economic interdependance
and the social security. The Vohra
neighbourhood is found to be similar to Hindu ones rather then the
British, indicating the lack of any
major change in their outlook to life and living. It is also an indication, that the British influence was
perhaps superficial.
For example, due to their exposure
to the outside world Vohras laid
new residential development on a
rectilinear basis. In few instances
the row houses even had controlled
street facades. With the exception
of few erstwhile princely rulers who
planned their towns on European
models, these Vohrwards were then
the only neighbourhoods in Gujarat
laid out geometrically.
The British house was large in size
and its verandahs adjoining the peripheral rooms opened towards the
garden. The Vohra or the Hindus
house on the other hand was inward
looking, towards the small internal
court. They had limited external
openings confined by the two thick
party walls.
By and large, independent use of several rooms is possible in case of the
colonial house, where as in the Vohra houses similar to the Hindu house, all rooms occur along a single
axis of movement, leaving only the
last room free of the general movement which can be used without di-
62
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